A live action Star Wars television series has been talked about since 2005 when George Lucas first mentioned the show and the Clone War animated series while doing promotion for Star Wars Episode III Revenge of The Sith.

Lucas and a group of writers started writing scripts for the 100 episode series way back in 2007, but now comes the first news that casting for the series is underway.

MTV spoke with Star Wars bit part actress Rose Byrne at the Knowing press junket and she said:

“A lot of my friends have been auditioning for it”

While it’s not an awful lot to go on it does look that Lucas will once again unleash the force once more.

As a huge Star Wars fan (I have no idea how many DVDs and VHS copies I own) I have to admit that I haven’t watched the last animated movie or it’s television counterpart. It’s animation – I just don’t get animation.

However, I may just get excited by a live action series – if it’s done right. Television is a new frontier for narrative story telling and I feel that if Lucas has developed the series correctly then it could be a good show.

I know that there an awful lot of Lucas haters out there who feel that he has milked the Star Wars cash cow for all it’s worth, but I believe that we have to give this series a chance – lets see some previews before we bash it.

Don’t expect to see any familiar faces in the show – it’s due to be set in the 20 years between Episode III and Episode IV but with no major character making an appearance.

If Lucas is only casting at the moment I’d say that the show is probably another two or three years away due to the technical effects and because I’d imagine that they’d want a few episodes in the can before they premiere on television.

Screen Rant will have more news on the live action Star Wars series when we get it.

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The Star Wars franchise is still strong and so it makes sense to still market Star Wars toys even to the younger generation. Uncle Milton Industries will actually unleash a whole line of cool new Star Wars tech toys including Star Wars Optical Command Unit, Star Wars Darth Vader Robotic Arm, Star Wars Jedi Telescope and Star Wars Jedi Projector. More details on the Star Wars site.

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While investigating the disappearance of a clone security force on a fiercely inhospitable ice world, Anakin and Obi-Wan are caught in the middle of a conflict between the planet’s natives and the greedy representatives of a nearby moon. In an effort to broker a tentative peace, Anakin turns to C-3PO for help – and finds his fluency in more than 6 million forms of communication to be most useful.

Daniels has played C-3PO on screen in all six Star Wars movies, and has continued in the role since the inception of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. With the animated series, Daniels becomes the only actor to play the same role in every on-screen incarnation of the Saga. He has also become a spokesman and host for the popular Art and Science of Star Wars exhibition around the world, and has written extensively about his experiences as a part of the Star Wars phenomenon.

“I’ve never left the character or, rather, he’s never left me,” says Daniels. “I put him in the cupboard for a while, but people call and I take him out again. There was a time many years ago when I thought I should move on to other things, but then I thought that was stupid. I’m very fond of Threepio.”

Daniels says the voiceover performance of Threepio is a welcome respite from the rigors of bringing Threepio to the screen in live-action productions. He finds the animation process offers “quite a lot of freedom.”

“When you’re reading lines by yourself, it’s not always as easy to ad-lib,” Daniels says. “But what Dave (Filoni) and I do is to go over my lines before we start because, sadly, I am the world’s greatest expert. And I say that with a kind of wry fun, because Threepio is kind of like my best friend, and you know your best friend better than anyone.”

Check out a scene from “Trespass”

Filoni says, “It was important to have Anthony as Threepio because I wanted to learn as much from him as I could. Anthony has incredible insight into every word and phrase that he says. There’s rarely a line that he won’t adapt to Threepio’s cadence, so we’ve developed a good vocabulary. We’re both excited to do new things with Threepio, and hopefully in the future, viewers will see us expand our view of the character. After all, Threepio is as much an icon of Star Wars as Darth Vader.”

Filoni says, “It was important to have Anthony as Threepio because I wanted to learn as much from him as I could. Anthony has incredible insight into every word and phrase that he says. There’s rarely a line that he won’t adapt to Threepio’s cadence, so we’ve developed a good vocabulary. We’re both excited to do new things with Threepio, and hopefully in the future, viewers will see us expand our view of the character. After all, Threepio is as much an icon of Star Wars as Darth Vader.”

In “Trespass,” Threepio presents his most proper, most effective side – that of translator. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t provide a moment or two of levity, as is usually the case with the protocol droid.

“The thing I always liked about Threepio is that he wasn’t a hero – he was somebody who had no sense of humor and no sense of irony,” Daniels says. “He doesn’t know that he’s funny. We think he’s funny because he’s ridiculous, he’s uptight and a bit critical and it makes us laugh at him. But his saving grace and the reason that we like him is that he’s very thoughtful and very loyal. If he’s on your side, you would have a friend to the end of your existence. Or probably to the end of his existence, because he’s loyal to a fault, to his last nut and his last bolt.”

Daniels has a clear memory of the original reference to the Clone Wars, and the curious impression it had on the cast – though, he admits, nobody had any idea it would grow to the proportions it has achieved within the Star Wars universe.

“I was amused the other day to remember Mark Hamill going through his lines with me one day, and we both kind of looked at each other regarding this casual one-liner about ‘the Clone Wars,’” Daniels recalls. “And then of course, it got picked up in the prequels and now it’s its own TV series. Animation has grown up. It’s become very, very honorable, and I think Clone Wars has taken the next step.”

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And, in some ways, that reach feels just a bit short.
The idea behind “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” was to lift the veil on the legendary war waged between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Separatists, chronicling the final days of the Jedi Order. But while each episode represents an unknown chapter in the Star Wars bible, most of the book has already been written and read.
The series focuses around characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, General Grievous, Count Dooku, and other staples of the Prequel Trilogy. The problem is: these characters’ stories have already been told, thus, eliminating almost all tension, drama, or conflict. Almost every character meets their end or destiny in “Revenge of the Sith,” leaving many of the story arcs and battles feeling anticlimactic.
One would be hard pressed to find someone unaware of Anakin Skywalker’s fall from grace or the massacre of the Jedi or the totalitarian regime of the Galactic Empire. The only real question lingers around the fate of Anakin’s young apprentice, Asoka Tano, who never appears in the feature films.
Simply put, the show puts us on a path to a place we’ve already been.
But it’s a hell of a fun ride.
While the Prequel Trilogy only gave us a taste of what the Jedi can do, Master Yoda’s reputation as a great warrior, and the combat skills of the Clone Troopers, “The Clone Wars” makes it the main course. Each episode centers on a different threat, skirmish, or mission undertaken by the clone troops and their Jedi generals, from launching all out space battles against massive battleships to rescuing downed soldiers.
And though the series doesn’t change the course of the franchise, the action keeps you on the edge of your seat with its surprisingly brutal fight scenes and cinematic space battles in line with Lucas’ original vision.
Plus, having the room to take the camera off the main characters and put it on, say, a small group of rookie Clone Troopers trying to defend a strategic base against an invasion of droids not only shows that war wasn’t just a series of epic space battles and lightsaber duels, but gives the often faceless, nameless clones a touch of humanity, and enhances their roles in Star Wars universe.
In the end, “The Clone Wars” might not be redefining the Star Wars legacy, but does a good job of keeping the fun and adventure Star Wars brought to the silver screen going on the small screen.

Source: Sci-Fi

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No, you’re not tapping into some “all-powerful force controlling everything,” as Han Solo said in the movies. But you are reaching out with mind power via one of the first mass-market brain-to-computer products. “It’s been a fantasy everyone has had, using The Force,” says Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing.

Mind-control games may be the coming thing: Mattel plans to demonstrate a Mind Flex game (also due this fall), which uses brain-wave activity to move a ball through a tabletop obstacle course, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday.

In the Force Trainer, a wireless headset reads your brain activity, in a simplified version of EEG medical tests, and the circuitry translates it to physical action. If you focus well enough, the training sphere, which looks like a ping-pong ball, will rise in the tower.

A state of deep concentration is needed to achieve a Force-full effect. “When you concentrate, it activates the training remote,” says Frank Adler of toymaker Uncle Milton Industries, which is creating the Trainer. “There is a flow of air that will move the (ball). You can actually feel like you are in a zone.”

Star Wars sound effects and audio clips emitted from the base unit “cue you in to progress to the next level (from Padawan to Jedi) or when to move the sphere up or down to keep challenging yourself,” Adler says.

“Until today, EEG technology has been designed for rigorous medical and clinical applications with little regard to price (and) ease of use,” says Greg Hyver of NeuroSky, which developed the brain-wave technology for both games. “We are putting this exciting technology into everyone’s living room.”

Source: USA Today

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One characteristic that sets most Eastern-developed MMOs from their Western counterparts is the microtransaction-based model, which throws away monthly subscription fees and instead allows the players to pay for certain virtual items while enjoying the main game for free. But, as of late, many Western studios have shed the monthly reminder of reality, such as Sony Online Entertainment with their release of Station Cash, where players of Everquest may purchase a bevy of in-game items, and Electronic Art’s recent comments on the next Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic, hints at a future where players could be nickel and dime’d to death.

EA CEO John Riccitiello, via Shacknews, took us for a spin when he said during a conference call that the Star Wars MMO would be microtransaction-based, only to have the company retract it, saying that “No statements have been made about the Star Wars business models.” Whether the publishing giant will opt for it or not remains to be seen, but the whole exchange has us here at GotGame wondering. Is a microtransaction system the way to go?

The straight answer is it depends on how well the companies are able to handle it, specifically the balance of power between characters that have these purchased items compared to ones who don’t. Do these items boost in-game stats, or are they just fun little pieces of clothing to dress your avatars and knickknacks for them to play with when they’re not slaying the newest dungeon boss? Yet this train of thought raises another issue; either the items create an unfair advantage on the battlefield, or they’re just useless, virtual novelties we paid for with actual money. And the question isn’t if microtransactions can work, since Second Life dispels any doubts, but if this will topple monthly subscriptions as the mainstream method of choice. Perhaps, it’s all in how the companies advertise it. “Free to play” sounds a lot better than “pay-as-you-go;” that is, if you don’t mind the lying.

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Playable Test Center

In order to thoroughly test out all aspects of the game, we feel that we are finally at a point in development where we can announce our intentions for a “playable” test center.

What is going to happen to the current TC (Nova)?

The current Test Center (TC:Nova) will run much like it does now. Blue Frogs will still be present to give items and train professions that are in need of immediate testing. New features will be added straight from the SVN to TC:Nova. This saves you the time of having to grind your profession and allows you to test new content immediately. Testers who want to test out new features and play around in a less serious atmosphere will still want to play on TC:Nova. On occasion, TC:Nova may experience database wipes in order to ensure testing and stability.

What is going to be on the new TC (Sun Crusher)?

The new “playable” Test Center (TC:SC) will be a separate and new server. TC:SC will only be updated with new features once we are fairly certain they are 100% stable and tested on TC:Nova. TC:SC will have no blue frogs or @GM commands for players. You are meant to grind your profession, much as you will in the final release of the game. This helps ensure that there will be fewer bugs on TC:SC, and that all levels of game play are tested equally. Since testers will no doubt spend a lot of time leveling their characters on TC:SC, we will make every effort to ensure that we do not wipe the database, unless it is absolutely needed. Testers who want a feel of what the final game will be like, and are looking for something to simply “play” will want to play on TC:SC.

When can we expect these changes to go live?

As long as we continue to receive enough community support and donations to support two servers, while still saving enough for future goals, you should see the server go live sometime in Q1 2009. In order to ensure the best game play possible, we still have a few features that we would like to finish up before starting the playable server. These features, such as crafting and player housing, are in their finishing stages and should be ready and stable in the coming months.

Official Server Plans

We have been bombarded with this question as long as the project has existed. “Is SWGEmu going to host an official server?” We have always deflected this question with non-committal responses. Today we make the official announcement that SWGEmu WILL be hosting a server called “Sun Crusher“. Sun Crusher will start out as the “Playable Test Center” and when the official release is ready, then it will be wiped and become the SWGEmu LIVE Server.

After long discussions and debates, we want to make sure that the community can count on SWGEmu to be a pillar in the SWG Emulation scene. Does this mean that SWGEmu wants to force out or hurt the communities? Absolutely not! In fact, we will be setting up numerical standards for servers to become “Official” sponsored servers. Standards would include things such as user base, server hardware, server bandwidth and connection, so we can ensure the entire user base a central place to come and see reliable servers with their specialties. Each server will have their own play style and new features, and keeping information about them in a central location will benefit everyone’s population.

Knowing what inquiries will abound from this post, an ambiguous statement will be the answer for the inevitable onslaught of the question “Will SWGEmu implement X new feature, or balance X something”. The answer to this is maybe. Our #1 commitment is releasing a fully functional, identical SWG (with bug fixes) emulator. This “vanilla” release will be maintained by SWGEmu for the foreseeable future. That said, the majority, if not all, of the SWGEmu developers are excited to take pre-cu and fulfill the potential that SOE never got around to doing.

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Playstation 3

1. Prince of Persia

2. Call of Duty: World at War

3. Resistance 2

4. Fallout 3

5. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

6. Far Cry 2

7. Need for Speed: Undercover

8. James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace

9. Mirror’s Edge

10. Little Big Planet

Playstation 2

1. Call of Duty: World at War – Final Fronts

2. Need for Speed: Undercover

3. NHL 09

4. Guitar Hero: World Tour

5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

6. LEGO Batman

7. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009

8. Shaun White Snowboard

9. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

10. Sonic Unleashed

Xbox 360

1. Gears of War 2

2. Prince of Persia

3. Fallout 3

4. Call of Duty: World at War

5. Left 4 Dead

6. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

7. Far Cry 2

8. Fable II

9. Need for Speed: Undercover

10. Saints Row 2

Wii

1. Wii Music

2. Animal Crossing: City Folk

3. Shaun White Snowboard

4. NHL 2K9

5. Clone Wars: The Animated Series

6. Mario Party 8

7. Need for Speed: Undercover

8. Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party

9. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

10. Call of Duty: World at War

Source: Blockbuster

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Not only is this Lego Star Wars diorama of the ice world Hoth fun to look at, it’s got some gadgety goodness inside too. Oh, and footprints. Tons of tiny minifig footprints.

As the headline says, the 5′X10′ diorama is comprised of 60,000 Lego bricks. It cost creator Mark Borlase about $3,000 and four years of construction time to complete.

There’s also the 50 LED lights that illuminate the Echo Base hangar and bacta tank with a soothing blue. Motorized AT-AT wenches and a fully operational hanger door top off this gorgeous pile of eye candy.

And according to the block heads over at Brothers Brick the diorama also won the recent “Star Wars building challenge” and was featured in the official LEGO Magazine.

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For those rare occasions where sci-fi geek meets sports freak, the past year introduced perfect holiday gifts allowing that rare mix of top-notch athletic performance and hopeless nerdiness.

Above you see an example of Brunswick’s new Viz-A-Ball Star Wars Edition, cool bowling balls that are ready to plow through pins. These resin balls come with shiny, 360-degree, limited-edition graphics. Sure, you can get Hello Kitty or the Three Stooges, but the Darth Vader and Yoda bowling balls prove that the power to roll a strike is insignificant next to the power of The Force.

For those Imperial officers who occasionally get out for a little fresh air, Bridgestone Golf introduced Star Wars golf bags in Darth Vader and Stormtrooper designs (pictured, below). Even at $500 a pop, good luck finding one of these in stock at the 19th hole’s pro shop.

Finally, Drew Pearson Marketing offers a complete line of Star Wars sports jerseys. In football, basketball and hockey styles (and on the market for a couple years now), they’re still a good idea for parents looking to inspire kids to make the transition from sci-fi movie fantasy to real-world athletic competition.
Even Boba Fett is a better role model than Terrell Owens or Kobe Bryant.

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